Solid Hollow

Contributors

Fah Vangtook (M.S. AAD '26)
Zuming Yang (M.S. AAD '26)
Yimiao Sun (M.S. AAD '26)

Class

ARCH 7111 Design A

Instructors

Nile Greenberg
Michael Abel

This project emerges in response to the rise of hollow architecture — buildings that appear open and neutral, yet quietly structure what can be seen, who can gather, and how space is used. Rather than rejecting hollowness, we seek to reclaim and reprogram it, turning the architectural void into a field of public interaction.

Drawing from the amphitheater as a civic prototype, the project traces the evolution of performance space from collective assembly in ancient theaters to today’s fragmented, screen-based spectatorship. We reinterpret the theater not as a sealed cultural icon, but as an open framework for participation, production, and shared presence. Instead of a fixed auditorium, the project offers a mosaic of interconnected voids, capable of expanding, combining, or remaining autonomous.

This design resists the illusion of neutrality by materializing the hollow — making it visible, negotiable, and publicly occupied.